If you've just moved into a newly built apartment in central London, don't be perplexed if your neighbors speak mostly Chinese. Battersea Power Station Development Company

如果你刚搬进伦敦市中心一幢新公寓大楼，发现邻居大多讲中文，请不要惊讶。

Market-cooling measures in Asia have helped fuel interest in London's real estate market--long a popular destination for property buyers on the prowl, says property consultancy Knight Frank. Last year, overseas buyers spent $3.5 billion on apartments undergoing construction in central London, up 22% from the year earlier.

房地产咨询机构莱坊(Knight Frank)说，伦敦很久以来就受到伺机买房者的追捧，而亚洲的楼市降温举措帮助推升了人们对伦敦市场的兴趣。去年，海外购房者为购买伦敦市中心的在建公寓投入35亿美元，较上年同期增加22%。

Together, buyers from Singapore and Hong Kong snapped up nearly 40% of all such apartments in central London. Adding in buyers from Malaysia and mainland China, Asian buyers accounted for roughly half of all purchases. By comparison, U.K. buyers made up just 27% of all purchases of apartments under construction, according to Knight Frank's latest figures. Such figures were generally consistent with those seen in 2011. 

接近40%的伦敦市中心在建公寓都卖给了新加坡和香港的买家。如果再算上马来西亚和中国内地的买家，亚洲买家购买量约占一半。莱坊的数据显示，英国本土买家只占到27%。这些数字与2011年大体一致。

Among overseas buyers, more than two-thirds bought for investment purposes, says Knight Frank, while another third said they were motivated to buy for a child enrolled at a local university.

莱坊说，海外买家中有超过三分之二是出于投资目的，另外三分之一的人说，他们买房是为了给留学英国的孩子住。

The implementation of cooling measures across parts of Asia in recent years may have encouraged buyers to spend more in London, as cities from Beijing to Hong Kong have slapped extra taxes and restrictions on short-term speculators and those seeking to buy additional properties. Such measures have 'acted as a spur for many potential investors to look at overseas markets,' says Nicholas  Holt, Asia-Pacific research director.

亚洲部分国家和地区近几年实施的楼市降温措施，可能是买房人把更多资金投往伦敦的一个原因。从北京到香港，很多城市都针对短期炒房者和希望购买多套房的人采取了加税、限购措施。莱坊亚太研究负责人霍尔特(Nicholas Holt)说，这类举措刺激很多潜在投资者把目光投向了海外市场。

The developer of London's Battersea Power Station residential complex says it is making a deliberate attempt to ensure that buyers of the first wave of its apartments--which went on sale this month--will be a balanced mix of locals and expatriates. 'We want as many as we can,' says Battersea Power Station Development Company CEO Rob Ticknell of U.K. buyers, saying that the company is adjusting its sale strategy to try and obtain the right combination of residents. Out of the 800 apartments for sale, 600 have already been sold, he says--about half those to U.K. buyers--with construction to begin in the second half of 2013.

伦敦住宅综合体“Battersea Power Station”的首期公寓本月上市。其开发商说，它将有意识地在首期买房人当中实现英国人与外国人的均衡。开发商Battersea Power Station Development Company的CEO蒂克奈尔(Rob Ticknell)说，我们希望英国买家越多越好。他说，公司正在调整销售策略，以实现住户的合理搭配。他说，800套公寓已有600套卖出，其中一半左右被英国人买下。这些公寓将在2013年下半年开始建设。

Recently Mr. Ticknell has been touring various cities in Asia to promote sales of the development. Over the course of a three-day exhibition in Singapore this month, some 1,000 people showed up, he says. The company is organizing a similar exhibition in Hong Kong this weekend, and expects the remaining apartments will be sold off soon.

为推销这个楼盘，蒂克奈尔最近巡访亚洲多座城市。他说，这个月公司在新加坡举行了为期三天的展销，期间约有1,000人前来。该公司将于这个周末在香港举办一次类似的展销活动，据它预计，剩余公寓将很快卖光。

When it comes to Hong Kong buyers in particular, Mr. Ticknell says, it isn't surprising that they gravitate so strongly toward London. 'The fact that our legal system is the same makes a huge difference,' he says of the former British colony. 'The connection between London and Hong Kong is very close.'

蒂克奈尔说，亚洲人如此严重地倾向于伦敦并不奇怪，香港人尤其如此。他说，香港作为前英殖民地拥有同英国一样的司法制度，这一点有着很大的意义。他说，伦敦和香港的联系非常密切。